Valve's CS: GO Overwatch Are Always Watching

Did you wake up this morning feeling more judged than usual? Don't panic. Just look around the room and see if you can spot the RPS Staring Eye of Judgement? Well done, you have chosen, or been chosen, to take part in our little experiment: the RPS Staring Eye of Judgement will, eventually, monitor your every move to ensure that when you sit down and make a comment on the site that you've made the correct decisions in life up to that point. I say "eventually", because right now it's just a helium balloon with an eye drawn on it. Could you just drag it around and pretend, maybe making whirring and clicking noises? Thanks! We got the idea from Valve, who've decided to hand the matter of CS: GO's policing over to the community. The sinister sounding Overwatch will be community members who have the power to review cheating cases reported by players and ban those responsible.

Blimey. An interesting experiment from the Counter-Strike team.

Prospective Overwatch Investigators are presented with an active Overwatch button in the main menu, which indicates that there is a pending case for them to evaluate. The investigators can then choose to participate by watching a replay (eight rounds’ worth or roughly 10 minutes) and selecting a verdict.

If the investigators collectively agree that an offense has occurred, a ban will be issued. The ban duration will depend on the severity of the offense and the suspect’s history of convictions, if any.

They're only out to snag cheaters: the system will only identify the player as "The Suspect", and both chat and voice won't be in the replay files, so people who use chat to air unfortunate political discourse or play obnoxious music are safe for now. The language here is pretty sinister. "Overwatch"? "The Suspect"? Aren't you being a bit overly dramatic? That's exactly the sort of language that makes people go a bit funny with power.

Via PCG.